Different types of packages are delivered to recipients at various locations. In one example, packages are delivered to residents of apartment buildings. In this situation, a delivery person from a delivery service typically drops off a group of packages at the front desk of the apartment building where the packages are stored. When the recipient of the package returns to the apartment building, they can ask an attendant at the front desk for any packages that have been delivered during the day. The delivery person may leave a note at the recipient's door indicating that delivery was attempted and reminding the recipient to pick up the package.
This delivery approach suffers from various problems. To mention one shortcoming, a human attendant is required to receive and sign for the package. This can be costly for many apartment buildings to provide. This delivery approach also relies on the presence of the human attendant and/or the recipient to complete the delivery process. More specifically, the attendant has to retrieve the packages to give to the recipient. The packages are often unsorted and the attendant has to take time to find the correct package once the recipient arrives.
In addition, the recipient often has to periodically check to see if there are any packages waiting for them at the front desk. Further, the packages are often in an unsecured location which is susceptible to unauthorized entry and package theft. Package theft is a very common form of delivery theft, especially in locations where packages are not secured in a locked location until recipient pick-up. Records of package delivery, if they are maintained at all, are often hand-written and prone to error. Consequently, efficient management of package deliveries is difficult or impossible to achieve.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.